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higher education training
OSsmert Isr £ducn a.Tciio
t*UC OF IOUTH AP*A
Enquiries: Mr Keith Loynes
Tel: (012) 312 6182
Email: Loynes.Kdhet.qov.za
Reference: DHET Function Shift Circular No 2/2014
To:
. Heads of Provincial Education Departments;
. Officials in the Provincial Education Departments likely to be affected by the
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVETC's) and
Adult Education and Training Centres (AETCs) function shift;
• Chairpersons of Council and Administrators of TVET Colleges;
• Principals, Lecturers and Support Staff of TVET Colleges;
• Principals and Staff of Public Adult Learning Centres (PALC) ; and
• Employees represented by organised labour in both the General Public
Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) and the Education Labour
Relations Council (ELRC).
PROGRESS MADE WITH THE TVET AND AET FUNCTION SHIFT PROCESS
AND THE WAY FORWARD
OBJECTIVE OF THE CIRCULAR:
The objective of this circular is to communicate progress made on the AET and
TVET College Function shift and provide information to officials affected by the
transition. This circular is issued after consultation with members of the function shift
National Implementation Task Team (NITT) comprising of Nehawu, POPCRU and
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PSA representation from the GPSSBC, CTU-ATU, and SADTU representation from
the ELRC, and DHET officials (including some college principals).
The last circular provided a progress update on the different management
areas specific to the TVET Colleges. Below is an outline of progress related to
both the AET and TVET function shift.
1. ADULT EDUCATION AND TRAINING (AET)CENTRES
Amendment of the FET Colleges Act, 2006 (Act No. 16 of 2006) outlines the move of
the AET function to the Minister of Higher Education and Training by way of FET
Colleges Amendment Act 2013 (Act No. 1 of 2013), by repealing the Adult
Education and Training Act, 2000 and converting the AET Centres into Community
Colleges. While this act is not yet operative, the DHET has developed a draft Policy
on Community Colleges, which will guide the establishment of Community Colleges
and Community Learning Centres. The policy will be published shortly for public
comment. In the meantime the Minister has requested the President of the Republic
of South Africa to effect the operationalization of the Continuing Education and
Training Act on 1 April 2015. This means the AET function would have been
completely moved.
The Policy provides guidance on the nature of Colleges to be established in line with
the FET Colleges Amendment Act, 2013 (Act No. 1 of 2013). Through the FET
Amendment Act and the finalization of the Policy, the following will be achieved:
• Adult Education and Training will be brought into the TVET Colleges
legislative framework that is to be renamed the Continuing Education and
Training Act;
• the repeal of the Adult Education and Training Act, 2000 (Act No. 52 of 2000);
• shifting Adult Education and Training into a national responsibility of the
Minister of Higher Education and Training; and
• the declaration of a new institutional type called the Community Education
and Training College.
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In order to get to the above, work has begun on various aspects related to staffing
within AFT:
i. A draft Collective Agreement regarding the transfer of AET Staff to the DHET
has been developed and is being consulted on. Initial discussions have taken
place with officials from Provincial Education Department (PED's) AFT units
as well as with some Centre managers and principals. More of these sessions
will be held as requested by the PED AET Units.
In addition to the draft collective agreement, DHET will be initiating a staff data
update and physical verification process within AET Centres and PED AFT
Units. The immediate action will be to collate data on existing staff within AET
and verify this data by a physical verification process which is due to start
during the month of July 2014.Details of this process will be outlined to all
centre managers and principals for dissemination to all staff.
iii. The DHET is in the process of collecting information on the current status of
AFT centre governance structures that are legally and properly constituted in
line with the existing Adult Education and Training Act, 2000 (Act No.52 of
2000).
The DHET will establish interim College Councils once the Minister has
approved the draft policy on Community Colleges and the identification of the
sites for Community Colleges.
iv. It is anticipated that staff information sessions for AET staff will be undertaken
nationally to outline the processes to be followed and address any questions
that staff may have.
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2. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING COLLEGES
(TVETC)
The Minister will be shortly publishing a notice in the Government Gazette
effecting the remaining sections of the FET Amendment Act (2012) to come
into effect on 1 April 2015, thus completing the function shift.
The legislation also provides for the rebranding of FET Colleges as Technical
Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVET).
A. Staff data updates and Verification Process
In May 2014 all colleges were asked to update staff data provided to DHET to
assess the college wage bill in relation to the college grant allocation. On
receiving the data per college, all TVET College staff will be required to go
through a physical verification process as follows:
a. All staff to confirm their physical verification by signing out, on the 'College
Verification Control Sheet', their receipt of a 'Staff information update
form'. This is to be coordinated and managed by the College HR
Department.
b. The completed and signed 'Staff information update form' along with
required copies of documentation requested is to be returned by all staff to
the College HR Department within 10 days of receipt and signed back in to
the College HR Department using the 'College Verification Control Sheet'.
c. All completed forms including any copies of required documentation are to
be signed off by the College HR Department and sent to the DHET with
the signed copies of the 'College Verification Control Sheet'.
d. DHET will then consolidate data initially provided against the physical
verification information in order to confirm the physical verification of all the
staff prior to the identification of staff for transfer to the DHET.
This process has already started in some colleges and is to be completed by
end of August 2014.
B. Collective Agreement Implementation
The National Implementation Task Team (NITT) has done much work since
the publishing of DHET Function Shift Circular No 1 I 2014. The purpose of
this team, made up of labour and DHET officials is to ensure transparency
and effective implementation of the Collective Agreements.
To clarify the clauses of the Collective Agreements as well as outline the
steps involved in the identification of staff for transfer from the TVET Colleges
to the DHET, the NITT have developed "Business Rules" which are currently
being piloted in some colleges. While details of these business rules will be
shared with staff at the Information Workshops being planned soon, it is
important for staff to note that criteria being used to determine the
identification for transfer will include the following:
i. The status of the College wage bill in relation to the College Grant
Allocation
ii. The numbers and costs of the permanent and temporary persal staff
employed at the college;
iii. The numbers and costs of the permanent and temporary college
payroll staff employed at the college;
iv. Operational requirements including curriculum needs, scarcity of skills,
student enrollments, etc.
Where staff are not identified for transfer to the DHET they will remain in the
employ of the College Council.
In addition to the above, the Frequently Asked Questions document is being
updated for circulation to all staff during the roll out of staff information
sessions. These will be continually updated to ensure that all staff are aware
of the issues that arise.
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C. Staff Information Workshops
The NITT has been split into 6 groups that will travel nationally to deliver staff
information workshops related to the TVET Function Shift. This process will
occur during the month of July 2014. Further information on this will be
provided shortly.
These workshops are intended to inform as many staff as possible in Public
TVET Colleges of the Function Shift Project including a progress update,
processes to be undertaken, the identification of staff for transfer, and the
deadline dates for completion of the transfer to the DHET.
Delegates selected per college in each province to attend these workshop
sessions are expected to cascade this information in formal workshops at
their colleges to ensure that all staff receive the same message. The College
Principal is to determine which of these staff are best suited to the task.
Workshop information and presentations will be provided to ensure this is
consistently delivered, with members of the NITT being available to support
this if required.
D. PED TVET Unit Staff
To date, PED TVET unit staff providing support to TVET Colleges have been
seconded to the DHET to ensure the smooth operations of colleges nationally.
Information related to the roles and responsibilities of each of these members
of staff has been received by the DHET and discussions around the transfer
of the PED TVET Unit staff to the DHET are scheduled to begin soon.
CONCLUSION
We want to thank all those involved and affected by this process for their cooperation
and also want to assure you that there will be regular communication in this regard.
""C~' -
Mr GE Qonde
Director-General: Higher Education and Training
Date: 771411
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